Kirsten Gillibrand

WASHINGTON, May 20- The U.S. Senate should cut crop insurance subsidies, the most expensive part of the farm safety net, by $1 billion a year before it passes the new farm bill, the White House said on Monday. The House would make the biggest food stamp cuts in a generation, $20 billion, compared to $4 billion in the Senate.

The New York Democrat announced Sunday the Federal Student Loan Refinancing Act, a bill that would lower interest rates for many student borrowers currently repaying their federal student loans. Gillibrand said she will introduce the bill in the Senate this week. There are 2.7 million borrowers in New York and 37 million nationwide.

WASHINGTON, May 14- The Senate Agriculture Committee approved a farm bill on Tuesday, costing $500 billion over a decade, that would expand the scope of the federally subsidized crop insurance program and modestly trim spending on food stamps for the poor. The 1,000- page bill now goes to the Senate floor, where a vote could be called as soon as this month.

*House, Senate panels plan to draft farm bill next week. WASHINGTON, May 9- Lawmakers are preparing for a second run at writing the new U.S. farm law that ended in a stalemate in 2012, and the biggest obstacle is not likely to be soil conservation or crop subsidies, but the billions spent mostly in cities and towns.

WASHINGTON, May 7- Congress will begin writing a new, $500 billion U.S. farm law next week, the head of the Senate Agriculture Committee said on Tuesday, even as calls mounted for deeper cuts in farm subsidies and food stamp spending. The Senate panel has scheduled a bill-drafting session for May 14.

*EPA to announce rules to lower emissions on Friday. *EPA: every $1 in industry costs would cut $7 from health bills. In addition, the American Petroleum Institute, the main energy industry lobbying group, has said the rules could increase refinery operating costs by up to 9 cents per gallon.

In addition, the American Petroleum Institute, the main energy industry lobbying group, has said the rules could increase refinery operating costs by up to 9 cents per gallon. A study released by Navigant Consulting last year said the rules could cut healthcare costs for lung and heart diseases by $5 billion to $6 billion a year by 2020 and double that by 2030..

The lawmakers, led by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from New York, want the Environmental Protection Agency to propose rules that would slash the sulfur content in gasoline this year and to finalize them next year. Ed Whitfield, a Republican from Kentucky in the House of Representatives, introduced a bill this year to stop the EPA from issuing the rules.